Rating:
Genre:
R&B
Release Date: 11/03/2009
After
"1 Thing" hit the Top Ten of the Hot 100 during the spring of 2005,
Amerie was basically invisible. A follow-up single only grazed the Hip-Hop/R&B chart. Released in 2007, the adventurous
Because I Love It, the singer's next album -- and, ironically, best work -- wasn't even issued in the U.S., possibly because its lead single slid off the chart within two weeks. Now on
Def Jam,
Amerie returns with
In Love & War, an album that is much more creative than its title indicates while also playing out a bit like
Because I Love It redux. Even with a few recycled ideas and the unlikeliness that she'll have another
"1 Thing," the singer has made a second excellent album without the help of
Rich Harrison. She works with another assortment of co-producers and co-writers, including
Eric Hudson,
Sean Garrett,
Warryn Campbell,
Rico Love,
Jim Jonson,
Bryan-Michael Cox, and even
Teddy Riley. As on
Because I Love It, all the high-energy material is packed into the first half, where
Amerie lays down the law, accosts, and flirts, and she even manages to seem in control when she falls into a romantic trap.
"Why R U" is a reminder that no one is better when it comes to breathing new life into a familiar breakbeat, while
"Higher" is surprisingly rocking, reined in just before spinning out of control. The first half is even better when it cools down a few degrees, as on the rewrite of
Mint Condition's
"Breaking My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)," featuring
Trey Songz, and
"More Than Love," where
Amerie rides more
Kool & the Gang horns and gets into an amusing spat with
Fabolous.
"Swag Back" through
"Dear John" is all subdued and deals mostly with the war side -- accepting a lost cause, escaping "a living hell," and recovering from it -- though
"You're a Star" and
"Red Eye" provide a reprieve, with the latter the album's only true slow jam. Its alluringly bleary synthesizer cleverly enhances
Amerie's half-awake mile-high-club state of bliss. Heartbreak ballads like
"The Flowers" and the
"Paint Me Over"-like
"Different People" might put off those who have an aversion to melodrama, but they are as well constructed as anything earlier in the set.
~Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
;)
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